"One other plus for Lombardi: Despite technically being out of the NFL for five years, it‚Äôs one of the worst-kept secrets that he has been consulting for Belichick during that time.

‚ÄúHe still puts the game plans together for Bill Belichick,‚ÄĚ Brian Baldinger, Lombardi‚Äôs NFL Network colleague, told 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland Friday.

‚ÄúI see the stuff being used week in, week out. There‚Äôs no question that Bill uses the advanced scouting Mike delivers to him.‚ÄĚ"

I found this fascinating and mildly disturbing unless Baldinger was exaggerating somewhat. If Lombardi leaves for the NFL we might lose a much more significant resource than we realize.

Then there was this response to a tweet :

Greg A. Bedard ‚ÄŹ@GregABedard
Probably but you never know. and i would add "here" to the end RT @KietLe: @DryHeave1 BB will definitely coach longer than Brady plays.

For those non-tweeters, Greg was saying "here" should be added to "BB will definitely coach longer than Brady plays" as if he thinks Brady could well play elsewhere which would suggest, if true, this would be his last contract with the Pats as he'll be 37 at the end of it and one more, say, 4 year deal would almost certainly be the end.

Maybe I overreacted to this stuff (he also mentions in the column the possibility of Percy Harvin becoming available) but it was more than usual Sunday banter to me.

I feel like Greg knew we'd be bored today with no game so he dropped this on us. I like Greg, IMO he's the best reporter we've had since I became a Pats fan back in 1996 after my old team moved.

Anyway. In his column :

Michael Lombardi may be line to take over Browns - Sports - The Boston Globe

"One other plus for Lombardi: Despite technically being out of the NFL for five years, it√Ę‚ā¨‚ĄĘs one of the worst-kept secrets that he has been consulting for Belichick during that time.

√Ę‚ā¨ŇďHe still puts the game plans together for Bill Belichick,√Ę‚ā¨ Brian Baldinger, Lombardi√Ę‚ā¨‚ĄĘs NFL Network colleague, told 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland Friday.

√Ę‚ā¨ŇďI see the stuff being used week in, week out. There√Ę‚ā¨‚ĄĘs no question that Bill uses the advanced scouting Mike delivers to him.√Ę‚ā¨"

I found this fascinating and mildly disturbing unless Baldinger was exaggerating somewhat. If Lombardi leaves for the NFL we might lose a much more significant resource than we realize.

Then there was this response to a tweet :

Greg A. Bedard √Ę‚ā¨@GregABedard
Probably but you never know. and i would add "here" to the end RT @KietLe: @DryHeave1 BB will definitely coach longer than Brady plays.

For those non-tweeters, Greg was saying "here" should be added to "BB will definitely coach longer than Brady plays" as if he thinks Brady could well play elsewhere which would suggest, if true, this would be his last contract with the Pats as he'll be 37 at the end of it and one more, say, 4 year deal would almost certainly be the end.

Maybe I overreacted to this stuff (he also mentions in the column the possibility of Percy Harvin becoming available) but it was more than usual Sunday banter to me.

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Baldinger is an idiot. Lombardi is a front office guy. He isn't putting together game plans for BB, that's silly.
bedard has no more info about bradys future than you do

Bedard did have a small comment on what Baldinger said at the end of the column:

It‚Äôs arguable how much Lombardi is actually involved with Belichick, who bounces ideas of assorted people outside the building. It‚Äôs an effort to stave off the type of groupthink that can sometimes consume and paralyze coaching staffs and personnel departments.

I wouldn't doubt that Belichick consults with Lombardi on things. Belichick is consulting with a lot of people in the media and outside the NFL to gain insight. He and Jimmy Johnson talk about things all the time. One of the things that makes Belichick better than the rest of the league is that he is always trying to gather as much information from so many sources as possible to gain an edge no matter how much the impact has (that bit him in the arse with Spygate). I seriously doubt Lombardi is actively involved in game planning though.

As for Brady leaving after this contract ends, it is all speculation at this point. People point to guys like Favre and Montana as proof of it being the case of him finishing his career elsewhere. But guys like Elway, Marino, and other counter that. Favre and Montana were moved because they had HOF caliber QBs backing them up and their teams decided to go with the younger, cheaper option. The Pats may decide to ride Brady to the end and Brady might not like the idea of being like Montana in a KC uniform or Favre in a Jets' uniform.

‚ÄúHe still puts the game plans together for Bill Belichick,‚ÄĚ Brian Baldinger, Lombardi‚Äôs NFL Network colleague, told 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland Friday.

Are you kidding me? How plausible could this even be? I bet Baldinger also thinks having taped defensive signals would have allowed the Pats defense to know the opponents offense was running (huh???, btw this is what Hine Ward claimed,, the mental giant)

Now is it possible, even likely that they speak and Belichick asks Lombardi if he knows the status of certain players given Lombardi's access to teams, maybe but how factual can that be. Of course, this statement from Baldinger will quickly be considered fact and the majority of the media will soon be screaming about the impropriety of Belichick's ways.
Ah, I love cheering for the team that so many despise out of jealousy.

Bedard usually gives a link to the full article on twitter, but he hasn't the past two weeks. What does he say about Harvin?

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Not his best work.

Mused that things with diva pita injury prone WR's work out so well for Bill maybe a trade of Harvin to NE with a year left on his deal for a player who isn't under contract to NE in 2013 could somehow be in the cards...

Greg is laughing via twitter at Manish making a fool out of himself over Rex... LOL

Lombardi has been jonesing for a real job for several years now and if BB truly valued him don't you think he'd have tapped him at the very least when Pioli walked?

Mused that things with diva pita injury prone WR's work out so well for Bill maybe a trade of Harvin to NE with a year left on his deal for a player who isn't under contract to NE in 2013 could somehow be in the cards...

Greg is laughing via twitter at Manish making a fool out of himself over Rex... LOL

Lombardi has been jonesing for a real job for several years now and if BB truly valued him don't you think he'd have tapped him at the very least when Pioli walked?

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True. He could have hired Lombardi for the "Senior Advisor" position (or whatever it is) that Floyd Reese currently has.

Of course, it's possible that he did approach Lombardi and got turned down.

Mused that things with diva pita injury prone WR's work out so well for Bill maybe a trade of Harvin to NE with a year left on his deal for a player who isn't under contract to NE in 2013 could somehow be in the cards...

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To be fair, he didn't actually connect the dots that way: more along the lines of trade Harvin to NE, and then MIN goes after Welker in the offseason.

They‚Äôve also added a pair of scouting assistants with NFL ties, adding former NFL quarterback Chris Simms and Mick Lombardi. Simms has been working on the field with the coaching staff during offseason practices.

Lombardi‚Äôs the son of former personnel executive Mike Lombardi, now an analyst with the NFL Network, who also happens to a long-time Belichick confidante.